Rhagophthalmidae Olivier, 1907 (Coleoptera, Elateroidea): described genera and species, current problems, and prospects for the bioluminescent and paedomorphic beetle lineage

Abstract

Rhagophthalmidae are a small beetle family known from the eastern Palaearctic and Oriental realms. Rhagophthalmidae are closely related to railroad worms (Phengodidae) and fireflies (Lampyridae) with which they share highly modified paedomorphic females and the ability to emit light. Currently, Rhagophthalmidae include 66 species classified in the following 12 genera: Bicladodrilus Pic, 1921 (two spp.), Bicladum Pic, 1921 (two spp.), Dioptoma Pascoe, 1860 (two spp.), Diplocladon Gorham, 1883 (two spp.), Dodecatoma Westwood, 1849 (eight spp.), Falsophrixothrix Pic, 1937 (six spp.), Haplocladon Gorham, 1883 (two spp.), Menghuoius Kawashima, 2000 (three spp.), Mimoochotyra Pic, 1937 (one sp.), Monodrilus Pic, 1921 (two spp. in two subgenera), Pseudothilmanus Pic, 1918 (two spp.), and Rhagophthalmus Motschulsky, 1854 (34 spp.). The replacement name Haplocladon gorhami Kundrata, nom. nov. is proposed for Diplocladon hasseltii Gorham, 1883b (described in subgenus Haplocladon) which is preoccupied by Diplocladon hasseltii Gorham, 1883a. The genus Reductodrilus Pic, 1943 is tentatively placed in Lampyridae: Ototretinae. Lectotypes are designated for Pseudothilmanus alatus Pic, 1918 and P. marginalis Pic, 1918. Interestingly, in the eastern part of their distribution, Rhagophthalmidae have remained within the boundaries of the Sunda Shelf and the Philippines demarcated by the Wallace Line, which separates the Oriental and Australasian realms. This study is intended to be a first step towards a comprehensive revision of the group on both genus and species levels. Additionally, critical problems and prospects for rhagophthalmid research are briefly discussed.

Two new species of soldier beetles (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) from Eocene Baltic amber, including one with a rare type of antennae

“…For example, among Elateridae, species with TWO NEW SPECIES OF SOLDIER BEETLES Palaeoentomology 006 (4) © 2023 Magnolia Press • 421 12 antennomeres have been described in some genera of Agrypninae, Elaterinae, and Pityobiinae (Kundrata et al, 2020). In Brachypsectridae, the feature has been found in the genus Asiopsectra (Kovalev & Kirejtshuk, 2016) and in all 12 known genera of Rhagophthalmidae (Kundrata et al, 2022). The firefly family Lampyridaea family related to soldier beetles-has the largest range of antennomere numbers (7 to 62) among extant beetles, despite having only about 2,500 species in approximately 140 genera (Ferreira et al, 2020;Nunes et al, 2020).…”

Systematic Distribution of Bioluminescence in Marine Animals: A Species-Level Inventory

“…With 695 luminescent genera of marine animals, our catalogue is ~40% larger than Herring's authoritative listing from 1987 [15]. Combined with luminescent records from non-marine Annelida (~35 species from 16 genera [56,64,65]), Mollusca (six species from three genera [66]) and Arthropoda (3000 species from ~240 genera [15,[67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77]), Fungi (~100 species from 14 genera [78][79][80]), Protists (~100 species from 27 luminescent genera [41,81]) and bacteria (forty-four species from six genera [82][83][84][85]), our listing amounts to over 6000 luminescent species from about 1000 genera, which represents at least a 20% increase compared to previous estimates [3,17]. Two driving forces have fueled this augmentation: an 'organic' growth linked to taxonomic changes triggered by the rise of molecular phylogenies (e.g., elevation of subgenera to genera level, splitting of genera to avoid paraphyly, and so on), and a 'methodological' growth linked to the discovery of new luminescent species (or to the discovery of the luminescence competence of species discovered before).…”

When a key innovation becomes redundant: Patterns, drivers and consequences of elytral reduction in Coleoptera

“…Rhagophthalmidae, comprising about 70 species in 12 genera, are the sister group of Phengodidae (Kundrata et al, 2022). Most genera contain species with the male elytra almost covering the entire abdomen or exposing only the apex or few tergites, with the elytral apices independently rounded and separated by more-or-less broad gap, as in Bicladodrilus Pic, Diplocladon Gorham, Dodecatoma Westwood and Rhagophthalmus Motschulsky (Kazantsev, 2012;Kundrata et al, 2022;Li et al, 2008;Yiu, 2017). In some genera, such as Rhagophthalmus, the congeners differ in the relative length of the elytra.…”

“…In some genera, such as Rhagophthalmus , the congeners differ in the relative length of the elytra. Representatives of the genus Falsophrixothrix Pic have distinctly abbreviated elytra, exposing most of the abdomen (Kundrata et al, 2022). All known females are larviform and although they differ in the degree of paedomorphosis, they completely lack elytra and wings.…”